Is peer regulation perceived as an effective mediator to strengthen the mission orientation of INGO leaders?

International non-governmental organizations (INGOs) operate in competitive funding markets and face political pressures, which can incentivize their leaders to compromise their mission-oriented strategy for more resource security. This article empirically investigates whether INGO leaders perceive peer regulation as an effective governance mechanism that allows them to strengthen their mission-oriented strategy to withstand these economic and political constraints. In particular, we assess whether peer regulation is perceived to promote organizational learning processes. We test a partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) based on a unique data set from an international survey among 201 INGO leaders from 21 countries. Our findings suggest that INGO leaders indeed perceive that peer regulation strengthens their mission orientation, despite the economic competition and political opportunity constraints their organization faces. This effect is partially mediated by organizational learning processes. Our findings are based on a constructivist perspective that emphasizes the learneffect of peer regulation on INGOs' strategic orientation, and allows the derivation of several managerial recommendations to foster INGOs' strategic autonomy.     

Forecasting the Educational Structure of Occupations: A Manpower Requirement Approach with Substitution

ABSTRACT: Manpower requirement forecasts are usually based on the assumption that discrepancies between supply and demand do not lead to adjustment processes at the labour market. We show, however, that even if the market mechanism functions completely, manpower requirement forecasts remain important information. On this basis, a manpower requirement approach is developed which incorporates the possibility of substitution processes at the labour market.     

DEMOCRATIC MECHANISMS

We introduce democratic mechanisms as a set of rules that must obey liberal democracy's fundamental principles of equal voting and agenda rights. We show that an appropriate combination of three rules may yield efficient provision of public projects: first, flexible and double majority rules, where the size of the majority depends on the proposal, and taxed and non‐taxed individuals need to support the proposal; second, flexible agenda costs, where the agenda‐setter has to pay a certain amount of money if his proposal does not generate enough supporting votes; third, a ban on subsidies. We highlight that universal equal treatment with regard to taxation is undesirable. Finally, we illustrate how simple constitutions involving fixed super majority rules yield socially desirable outcomes if the agenda‐setter is benevolent. (JEL: D62, D72, H40)     

An Explanation of the Occupational Structure of Sectors of Industry

Abstract. This study has been carried out by the Research Centre for Education and Labour Market (ROA) as part of a long-range research project commissioned by the Ministry of Education and Sciences. The objective of the project is to develop an education/labour-market information system to help secondary and university students choose the right type of school and/or occupation (ROA 1988). The study reported on here sets out to disclose the factors underlying the development of the occupational pattern. The shares of occupational classes in each economic sector are taken as points of departure. The explanatory variables are technological progress and cyclical and structural sectoral developments. For each occupational class, an estimation is made with the help of a linear model, the estimation method being that of Weighted Least Squares. To permit several variables to be included in the equation, the data have been pooled over sectors and time. In two fifths of all cases, a model with explanatory variables has been chosen; in the remaining instances a sector-dummy model was found to suffice.     

Child and Youth Coaching in families experiencing complex and multiple problems: A longitudinal evaluation study

Studies investigating services for families experiencing complex and multiple problems have emphasized the need for more child-centred support. The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate whether providing child-centred services (Child and Youth Coaching) combined with family-focused services (Ten for the Future) is effective for children growing up in families experiencing complex and multiple problems. Children's psychosocial skills, emotional and behavioural problems, and the quality of their pedagogical environment were measured at baseline, 6 months and 12 months. Parent and coach reports of children indicated for Child and Youth Coaching (n = 57) and nonindicated children (n = 18) were analysed using repeated measures multilevel models. Both parents and coaches reported improved psychosocial skills of children, but changes were only significant for coach reports. In both reports, no significant decrease in emotional and behavioural problems was observed for both indicated and nonindicated children. Many children still experienced considerable problems at case closure. Furthermore, no significant improvement in quality of the pedagogical environment was observed in both groups. Given the limitations in this study, more research is needed to identify whether these findings can be replicated and attributed to the Child and Youth Coaching and Ten for the Future programmes.